Textile fiber working machine



' March 13, 1951 E. H. ROGERS 2,544,965

TEXTILE FIBER WORKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 10, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 In vc/z far:

March 13, 1951 E. H. ROGERS TEXTILE FIBER WORKING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 10, 1948 1951 E. H. ROGERS TEXTILE FIBER WORKING MACHINE March 13,

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 10, 1948 Patented Mar. 13, 1951 TEXTILE FIBER WORKING MACHINE Ernest H. Rogers, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Saco- Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass a corporation of Maine Application January 10, 1948, Serial No. 1,581

1 Claim. 1

Several types of machines used in the textile industry, especially pickers, air filters and condensers, include mean for conveying cotton or other fiber in an air stream and a revolving screen through which the air stream flows and which serves to separate the fiber from said stream. When these machines are in operation the fiber so screened out of the airstream collects on the moving surface of the screen inthe form of a mat or sheet, and the removal of this sheet is customarily effected by means of a pair of draw rolls or delivery rolls. Usually these are fluted steel rolls, accurately machined, and running substantially in contact with each other, except as that relation is-modified by the fibrous mat or sheet fed between them. Usually, also, one at least of these rolls is mounted for yieldin movement toward and from its companion roll in order to accommodate variationsinthe sheet and to maintain a firmer grip of the roll on the sheet.

In these machines the mat delivered by it often is very irregular and lumpy. When alump passes between the delivery rolls it opensa gap between them. There is always either a positive or a negative air pressure at-one-sideor the other of this pair of rolls and when they are forced apart in the manner just described, a rush of air takes place between the rolls which interferes with the normal operation of the machine. That is, the effectiveness of machines-of this type depends to a large extent on accurate control of air flow and such control obviously is impossible under the circumstances just-described. It is partly for this reason that so many pains are taken in these machines to seal the spaces where leakage otherwise would occur. Especially troublesome is the tendency of the fiber to collect at any leaks around the ends of the rolls. Such a collection of fiber becomes tightly compacted partly by the action of the air, and more especially, by the motion of the rolls, and after a time it may build up sufficiently to form a hard bunch. which wedges itself so tightly between the rolls and the screen, or between the rolls and adjacent frame parts, thatv the machine jams. These are referred to in the trade as choke-ups.

A further objectionable effect which occurs when a bunch or lump passes between the rolls is that if there is a positive air pressure at the inner sides of the rolls, dust and fiber escape through the gap opened by the bunch and are discharged into the room in which the machine is operating. If this occurs at frequent intervals the working conditions in that room may become very unpleasant. Moreover, when the bunch passing between the rol'ls is sizeable, theseparal tion of the rolls which it produces frequently is suificient to permit the air pressure in the ma chine to blow out a subs.antial part of the mat from between the rolls. In addition to the foregoing, it not infrequently happens that some portion of the mat, instead of, being fed between the rolls and discharged, winds up on one of the rolls, thus producing what is known as a lap-up or roller lap which may result simply in a jam or in the breakage of some part of the machine.

The present invention'deals especially with the considerations above described, and it aims to improve machines of. this type with a, view to eliminating the objectionable features above described.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when readin connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features will be particularly described in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic in character, of a cottonpicking machine in which the present inven tion is embodied;

' Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view on a larger scale showing the invention applied to the filter unit of said machine;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, partly in section, of the upper'delivery roll shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical, secLional view illustrating the invention as embodied in the condenser section of the machine shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the delivery rolls illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.

The invention is here illustrated as embodied in the co Lton picker shown in Patent No. 2,271,793, granted February 3, 1942, and assigned to the assignee' of the present invention. For a detailed description of this machine reference should be made to the patent above designated, but for the purposes of this application it issufficient to point out that the machine comprises a beater A to which cotton is fed in the conven tional manner and from'which it is carried, in a current of air, to the condenser cylinders BB where it is collected on the screening surfaces; is taken off by the delivery rolls, and fed to the calendar section C. The current of air just mentioned, and the suction essential for the operation of the condenser, is created by the customany'blower I l and the exhaust air from this blower is discharged through the duct l2 to the casing l8 in which the filtering cylinder 2 is mounted. As explained more in detail in said patent the air discharged into the filter by the blower carries with it some of the fiber and dirt which it has picked up on its way through the beater. This air flows through the screening surface of the drum, deposits its fiber on said sur" face, and discharges the filtered air where it is carried back into the mote chamber from which it is re-circulated through the beater and the condensers.

The draw rolls or delivery rolls 3 and 4, Fig. 2, take the place of the rolls 24 and 25 provided for this purpose in the machine shown in said patent and may be operated by the same mechanism there disclosed. The upper roll 3 is spaced slightly from the surface of the screen 2 so as to permit the mat to pass between it and the screen, and its surface adjacent to the screen moves in the same direction as the screen, but the lower roll 4 runs substantially in contact with the screen and its surface travels in the opposite direction to the screen so that it peels the mat ofi the screen and carries it into the bite of the two rolls, where it is discharged. Suitable seals, such as those shown at 5 and S, cooperate with the rolls to close the spaces between the machine casing and the peripheral surfaces of said rolls.

So far as the general organization above described is concerned, it is essentially like that disclosed in the patent previously mentioned. The present invention resides in the construction of the delivery rolls 3 and 4 and their relationship to the adjacent parts. As best shown in Fig. 3, the roll 3 comprises a shaft 3' and a thick layer of soft rubber mounted on said shaft. Preferably this layer consists of a series of annular sections a of substantial thickness positioned end to end. These sections or rings are preformed, are slipped on to the shaft, and are secured to it for rotation in unison therewith as, for example, by cementing them to the shaft or making them somewhat smaller in internal diameter than the shaft so that they will fit on it so tightly as to revolve with it. Each section is of hollow, cylindrical form. The other roll 4 is of the same construction.

In operation the rolls cooperate to remove the fibrous sheet from the screen 2 in much the same manner as in the machine shown in the patent above referred to, but it has been found in actual practice that these rolls do not lap up and that they produce a more constant and tighter seal with each other, with the cylinder, and with the fibrous sheet which they are discharging, than can be produced with metallic rolls. Especially important is their action on a lump or bunch when it comes through in the mat. Both rolls yield to accommodate such a bunch. Instead of forcing the rolls bodily apart, those portions of the rubber layers in contact with the bunch conform to its contour. This action is in marked contrast to that which occurs with steel rolls which, as above explained, are forced apart bodily, openin a gap through which the mat may blow out. With the rubber rolls, however, the action is simply one of temporary deformity of those portions only of the rubber layers which bear on the bunch, such deformity being limited to a degree determined by the shape and dimensions of the bunch. At otherpoints thenormal relationship of the rolls to the mat remains undisturbed. Consequently, there is no danger of a blow-out; control of the air flow in the machine is not disturbed; and any appreciable discharge of dust or fiber into the room is prevented.

These rolls may be mounted in the machine in the usual way, although it is not necessary to support them for yieldin movement, one relatively to the other, unless the thickness of the mat to be discharged is exceptionally large. The ends of the rubber sections of the rolls themselves provide a good seal with the portions of the casing through which the shafts extend, as will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 3 where the casing walls are shown at 23-23.

The rubber of which the sections a are made may be either natural or synthetic, but it should be sufficiently soft and resilient to operate in the manner above described. A firm grade of sponge rubber made up in sections about two inches long has been found to operate very satisfactorily. My experiments indicate that the hardness of the rubber sections should be between approximately 23 and 30, as measured on a type A Shore durometer. The compounding of the rubber should be such as to ive good resiliency or spring-back, and while this characteristic may vary widely, a resiliency of 38 to 40, as measured on a Bashore instrument, has given excellent results. Also, the radial thickness of wall of the rubber rings should be ample, a minimum of a half inch being desirable, although with some compositions a thinner ring would work. It is preferable, however, to use a considerably greater thickness, say an inch or an inch and a half.

Figs. 4 and 5 show on a larger scale the condenser delivery rolls illustrated in Fig. 1. The two condenser cylinders or screens B have upper and lower delivery rolls 20 and 2| associated with them in the usual way. These rolls include steel shafts 26 and 2|, respectively, which may be mounted in the machine in the usual manner. As here shown each is supported near its opposite ends in bearings 24-24 and 2525. Each roll is made up of rubber sections 1), which are like those above described and illustrated at a in Fig. 3. And the same advantages are derived from the use of these rolls in delivering the condensed sheet of fiber from the cylinders B that is realized in using the roll 3 and 4 in Figs. 2 and 3. A negative pressure is maintained in the machine casing around the condenser cylinders and a lump or bunch of fiber passing between the steel delivery rolls permits a rush of air inwardly between the rolls which sets up violent edd currents inside the casing and interferes seriously with the formation of the sheet on the screen drums. Disturbances of this type are prevented by the use of the soft rubber rolls. Lap-ups also are eliminated.

A further advantage attending the use of this invention is the economy effected in the manufacture of the machine. The steel rolls used in both the filter section and the condenser section of the picker must necessarily be machined very accurately in order to produce the desired results, and such machining is expensive. With the rubber rolls this expense is eliminated.

While some of the advantages of thi invention could be obtained by using a soft rubber roll with a steel roll, for most purposes it is far more preferable to use two rubber rolls working together. Also, a pair of one-piece soft rubber rolls would produce some of the advantages afforded by this invention, butthe sectional construction is far superior from an operating standpoint because it conforms more readily to the lumps and variations in the sheet, is more economical to manufacture, and replacement of a damaged section is easily accomplished.

5 While I have herein shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be evident that the invention is susceptible of T embodiment in other; forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thu described my invention, what I desire to claim as newis:

In a fiber filtering machine of the type having a casing controllingan air-stream and within said casing a rotatable screen through which a :.;-stream of air laden with fiber is conducted when j the machine is in operation so that a fibrous mat :builds up on the screen, a delivery mechanism ior removing said mat from said screen and discharging it from said casing comprising a pair of rolls running in peripheral contact with each other and between which the mat is drawn from the screen, one at least of said rolls comprising a rigid shaft and a covering consisting of a series 6f annular rings of soft rubber positioned end to end on said shaft independently of each other, said rings being capable of conforming to and accommodating local irregularities independent of each other to prevent substantial flow of air between said delivery rolls.

me of this patent:

ERNEST H. ROGERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the UNITED STATES PATENTS 

